Chapter 5161, Xiang Shan

Silavin & Ashish

All kinds of things could happen during these 10 days. Yang Kai couldn’t help but be a little resentful. [This Xiang Shan is such an insensible bastard. If you are about to break through to the Eighth Order, why did you come to a place like this? Aren’t you just looking for trouble?]

In any case, since things had already reached this point, there was no point in complaining. As Dawn happened to be at the right place at the right time, they would naturally fight to the death to protect Xiang Shan. No matter what, they could not allow the Black Ink Clan to interfere with Xiang Shan’s advancement; after all, this matter would decide whether Blue Sky Pass would have another Eighth-Order Master or not!

Dawning Light’s speed was pushed to the limit, but even so, it still took them over a day to reach the place where Xiang Shan was breaking through.

It was a deathly silent asteroid and there were many Black Ink Clan corpses floating around it, evidence of a huge battle having been fought here.

When Dawn arrived, they spotted a Warship flashing through the void in the distance. The entire Warship was surrounded by arcs of lightning and flickering with a dark blue glow. From the deck, Secret Techniques and artifacts were being cast, shooting at the several figures surrounding the Warship.

Although this Warship was quite agile, its efficiency in killing enemies was not very high. At the very least, it was not comparable to Dawn.

Fortunately, not too many Black Ink Clansmen were attacking the Warship, nor were they too strong. By the time Dawn arrived, more than half of these Black Ink Clansmen had already breathed their last. After Dawn joined the battlefield, the remaining survivors were swiftly wiped out.

The two Warships converged in the void as a figure flew over and landed in front of Yang Kai.

“Junior Brother Yang, you’re also here.”

Yang Kai nodded in response, “Senior Brother Wan.”

The newcomer was Wan Zheng Xin, the Squad Leader of the Breeze Squad. Yang Kai had many dealings with him, so they could be considered friends.

“What’s the current situation?” Looking at the asteroid below, Yang Kai could vaguely see a figure sitting cross-legged. He was the source of the fluctuating aura.

Wan Zheng Xin replied, furrowing his brow, “We arrived just half an hour earlier than you, so I’ve no idea either.”

Of the five Special Operations Squads, Breeze’s Warship was the fastest, so it was only natural that they would be the first to arrive. However, when they got here, they happened to run into a detachment of Black Ink Clansmen who were trying to interfere with Xiang Shan’s advancement.

“Junior Brother Yang, do you know who the guy below is? Why is he alone and why can’t I see any of his Squad members?” Wan Zheng Xin asked.action

Yang Kai replied with a sigh, “If I’m not mistaken, the one advancing is Senior Xiang Shan. Has Senior Brother Wan heard of him?”

Wan Zheng Xin was extremely taken aback, “It’s actually him!?”

Judging by his expression, he had obviously heard of Xiang Shan, but since the latter was a reclusive person, his face wasn’t well known. Even Feng Ying rarely got to see him, so although Wan Zheng Xin had heard of Xiang Shan, he had never seen him and thus didn’t recognize him.

It wasn’t difficult to understand why he was here alone. Rumour had it that after he fell from the Eighth Order to the Seventh Order, his temper had become extremely strange, and very few could cooperate with him. Considering his original Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm status, there had been several Squads that had tried to recruit him, but none of them had succeeded. In the end, the Army Commander could only let him move about solo.

“This is going to be a bit troublesome,” Wan Zheng Xin furrowed his brow.

He originally wanted to persuade the person advancing to return to the forward base and break through there, but since it was Xiang Shan, he couldn’t interfere at all.

Since his Order had already fallen, it would be much more difficult for him to break through than an ordinary Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Now that Xiang Shan finally managed to grasp an opportunity to break through, he would naturally go all out and could not be disturbed in the slightest.

It was probably for this reason that Xiang Shan immediately chose to go through with it when he sensed the opportunity to break through. Otherwise, he would have used the Universe Transference Law to return to the forward base camp.

“The Old Turtles and Water Snakes are also in this area, they will be arriving to support us soon. It looks like we need to protect him well.”

Yang Kai glanced at him, “The Wild Boars are also in this area.”

Wan Zheng Xin was surprised, “All five Special Operations Squads are here?”

Yang Kai earnestly nodded.

“Five Special Operations Squads just happened to be hunting in this area while there are no signs of any other Squads active here, and now there is someone breaking through to the Eighth Order. Do you think the Army Commander knows something?” Wan Zheng Xin asked thoughtfully.

Yang Kai lowered his head, looking below, “Whether the Army Commander knows something or not is beside the point, now that things have reached this point, we must stand guard here and wait for reinforcements. I’ve already sent someone to report back to the forward base. Since the Senior is here, we should pay him a visit. At the very least, we should let him know that someone is guarding him so he can safely advance.”

“But of course,” Wan Zheng Xin nodded.

The two of them immediately flew down together, but didn’t get too close. Xiang Shan’s aura was fluctuating more and more rapidly, so if they got too close, they might disturb him. As such, the two stopped after reaching a certain distance from the asteroid.

Yang Kai cupped his fist and introduced in a loud and clear voice, “The members of Dawn and Breeze Squad are here. Senior, please focus on your breakthrough, there is no need to worry about external factors.”

There was no response from below, but Yang Kai didn’t expect one; after all, at this juncture, Xiang Shan wouldn’t be distracted by answering them.

After making the announcement, the two returned to Dawning Light.

“Senior Brother Wan, is there anyone in Breeze who is proficient in Spirit Arrays? We can arrange some around the asteroid just in case!”

Although true Array Masters were not allowed to enter the battlefield, every cultivator had a hobby or two which they practised in their free time. Owing to this, every cultivator had developed various abilities over the course of their long lives.

For instance, Yang Kai had mastered a little bit of both the Alchemic Dao and the Dao of Artifact Refining.

Although none of the members of the two Squads majored in the Array Dao, there were still a few who were a little proficient in arranging Spirit Arrays.

Wan Zheng Xin agreed, nodding, “There is, but his attainments aren’t high. Furthermore, if he is asked to set up an Array in a hurry, its power won’t be very high.”

Yang Kai replied, “It’s still better than nothing.”

“That’s true, but setting up a Spirit Array requires resources, and we don’t have any.”

In a special environment like the Black Ink Battlefield, where the cultivators were not sure whether they would be able to make it back alive or not, everyone would not bring anything other than essential healing and restorative items; after all, if they were to die outside, the resources they brought with them would be wasted.

Therefore, even if they wanted to set up a Spirit Array, they had no resources to do it with. Even the cleverest housewife couldn’t cook a meal without rice.

Yang Kai stated as a smile appeared on his lips, “I have some on me, I can provide whatever he needs.”

The Black Ink Battlefield had an unspoken rule that didn’t allow anyone to carry any extra resources, but Yang Kai never followed it, nor had anyone asked him to do so. As such, all of his possessions were stored in his Small Universe and Space Ring.

Since he had resources, there was nothing else to say.

The two of them immediately gathered all those capable from their respective Squads and began setting up Arrays around the asteroid. None of them had high attainments in the Array Dao, so their work was completely worthless compared to a true Array Grandmaster. None of them could say for sure how effective this arrangement would be, so the main force protecting the asteroid was still them.

While they were bustling about, a figure walked out from Dawning Light’s cabin.

It was none other than Qi Tai Chu, who had been sent back by Yang Kai to report this matter.

Seeing him return, Yang Kai quickly asked, “What did the forward base camp say?”

Qi Tai Chu reported, “The Army Commander told us to stand guard and wait for reinforcements. Division Commanders have been dispatched, but as this place is quite far from the forward base, even an Eighth-Order Master will need at least 10 days to arrive.”

Yang Kai let out a sigh. This was within his expectations. In the end, their position was simply too deep into enemy territory.

Many Black Ink Clansmen in the vicinity had been alerted to this disturbance and were already swarming around, hiding in clusters of Black Ink Clouds and shattered asteroids, watching from afar. Fortunately, due to the deterrence of the two Human Race Warships, none of them dared to approach, but this situation would not last long. Once the Black Ink Clan had gathered a certain amount of force, they would definitely launch an attack.

Their current situation was like sharks swarming over from all around after smelling blood.

During the tortuous wait, many simple and crude Spirit Arrays were set up around the asteroid. They were not proficient enough to lay profound Spirit Arrays down, so they could only make do with these.

After another three days, more Black Ink Clansmen had gathered. Some were even daring enough to test the limits of Yang Kai and the others’ endurance, constantly provoking them from a distance.

Wan Zheng Xin couldn’t help but send a voice transmission to Yang Kai, “Junior Brother Yang, you guard this place while I lead some people to kill these bastards.”

Yang Kai persuaded, “That’s not appropriate. My Dawn only has 37 members. If you leave, we may not be able to protect the entire area by ourselves. If any of them managed to slip through the net and made their way to Senior Xiang and interrupted his breakthrough, everything would be for nought.”

Wan Zheng Xin suggested, “Then why not take your Dawn Squad to kill them, while we guard this place.”

“It’s the same principle, we should just wait and see.”

Wan Zheng Xin speechlessly stated, “Even if we don’t take any action, do you think the Black Ink Clan won’t? The longer we wait, the more Black Ink Clansmen will gather. By then, the situation will be very hard to control. We might as well take advantage of this opportunity to kill some of them and reduce the pressure we will face later.”

Yang Kai stated with a smile, “The Black Ink Clan has reinforcements, but we don’t?”

Wan Zheng Xin was stunned for a moment before asking thoughtfully, “You mean…”

“It’s been a few days since we arrived here, but we haven’t seen any trace of the other Squads. Since they’re all in this area, they should have been here by now, no matter how far away they were. Since they haven’t appeared yet, it means they’re hiding somewhere, waiting for an opportunity to act. We should wait for now, and when the time is right, I’m sure they’ll appear and take the Black Ink Clan by surprise. There’s no need for us to act. Since they have not made their moves yet, it’s only because there’s too little meat to eat.”

Wan Zheng Xin thought about it for a moment before cursing, “Damn it, we came too early and lost the opportunity to get more kills. If I had known that things would take such a turn, I would have come later and then would have been able to kill to my heart’s content.”

Yang Kai burst into laughter, joking, “Among all the Squads, your Breeze Squad is the fastest. Who else could have arrived earlier than you?”

Wan Zheng Xin was slightly depressed, “I guess, you’re right.”

While they were speaking, a powerful energy fluctuation came from a certain place, followed by deafening bangs as a series of Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities suddenly lit up the void, hitting the asteroids and dispersing the Black Ink Clouds. The next moment, a wild laughter reverberated through the void as a raucous shout rang out, “Hahaha, there are so many fish here! Brothers, let’s run wild!”